The present invention relates generally to methods of manufacturing carbon nanotubes and, more particularly, to a system and method for manufacturing carbon nanotubes as functional elements of MEMS devices.
Existing methods in growing nanotubes cannot fabricate an individual precisely-located hole. Existing methods rely on methods that produce an array of uniformly-distributed holes, and thus uniformly-distributed carbon nanotubes.
Therefore a method of growing a carbon nanotube having a controlled shape, length and orientation at a precisely controlled location is extremely desirable.
The present invention provides a method for fabricating individual aligned carbon nanotubes as functional elements of MEMS devices.
More specifically, the present invention provides a system and method for manufacturing carbon nanotubes as functional elements of MEMS devices. The method of the present invention comprises the steps of preparing a MEMS substrate for growth of a carbon nanotube. A nanosize hole or nanosize catalyst retaining structure (NCRS) is fabricated in a layer on the MEMS substrate in which a nanotube catalyst is deposited. A nanotube is then synthesized within the NCRS, after which the layer may be removed if needed.
A key innovation associated with the present invention is the manufacturing of at least one carbon nanotube on a MEMS substrate in a process suitable for large-scale manufacturing. The method of manufacturing provided by the present invention opens the door to many other applications where an individual carbon nanotube, or collection of individual carbon nanotubes, can be used as functional element(s) or device(s).
A technical advantage of the present invention is that the method of the present invention is designed to produce aligned carbon nanotubes with controlled shape, diameter, wall thickness, length, orientation, and location of growth.
Another technical advantage of the present invention is that the method of the present invention allows fabrication of a NCRS with precise dimensions and location that will serve as a template or pore for a carbon nanotube with controllable length, orientation, diameter, and location. The method can be implemented so as to be compatible with microelectromechanical manufacturing systems (MEMS) fabrication processes.